Crows
by Child of a Broken Dawn
Summary: A traditional rhyme says that you can tell your fortune by the number of crows you see. The children of the Addams siblings may not be able to tell the future, but they have stories enough of their own. Collection of related oneshots.
1. One For Sorrow

**A/N: **Figured it was time to formally introduce the second generation to the world. Some are originally Ellie's (**Gleefully Wicked**), some mine, but over time they've become more **ours** than anything else. We own all of them, but none of the canon characters mentioned. Title and chapters based on the old divination rhyme.

* * *

_Eleanor Calpurnia Addams-Beineke_

"_Nell"_

_One For Sorrow._

* * *

My knee hurts.

I'm supposed to like that, but I don't. It's not like when Uncle Pugsley puts me on the rack. That hurts nicely. This hurts badly.

I swipe at my dripping nose and push myself up to a sitting position. There's dust on my dress; this part of the playground has no mulch. And there's a hole in my tights, stained red.

"Whatsa matter, freak?"

Oh right. Allison's still here. I look up and her face comes into view. Scrunched into a frown, but still the prettiest I've ever seen.

"Allison-" I start, but she keeps talking.

"You're a bad girl. That's what my mommy says. My daddy says somebody has to beat the bad out of you."

Another kick: her light-up sneaker poking me in the side. I don't fall again. I shouldn't ever have fallen.

Addamses don't fall. Maybe Beinekes do.

I ignore her; the bits of dirt in my cut sting. Carefully, I start to pick them out of my bloody knee. One piece of gravel at a time, easier to think about than the blonde girl who put them there.

"Hey," she shouts, "I'm talking to you!"

Mandy runs over from four-square. She's not as pretty as Allison, but almost, with blue eyes and brown hair held back by a purple headband. She frowns at me, though, and then they look more alike.

"Allison, what are you doing with the weirdo?" she asks.

Allison tugs on the glittery zipper of her jacket. "She tried to kiss me yesterday."

Mandy screams a little. "Ew!" She backs away like I'm sick and she might catch it.

"Girls kiss **boys**, stupid!"

Allison sneers down at me. "Crybaby."

I'm not crying. Not really. She can't make me cry.

"My daddy says your mommy and daddy shouldn't get to keep you. He says somebody who goes to church more should take you away from them."

I didn't do anything bad.

"Maybe none of the boys wanted to kiss her."

My knee is bleeding worse now, but I have to get all the grit out. It'll get infected otherwise. I don't know what that means, besides pus and bad. Well, not always bad for other people, but bad for me.

"Daddy said someone better set that little lesbo straight."

"What's that mean?"

"I dunno. Probably a girl who kisses other girls."

"Ew!"

Allison's not really there. Neither is Mandy. They're not there and she's not pretty anymore. The dirt under me is all blurry, but I can't cry. Addamses don't cry. I haven't done anything bad. I-

"Hey!"

I look up. A tall girl with dark hair stands over me. She's always quiet in class, I remember. But something in her brown eyes looks more…**here** than usual. She's staring at Allison and Mandy.

"Leave her alone," the tall girl says. Mandy rolls her eyes.

"She tried to kiss Allison!"

"So? Go away." She holds out a hand to me. "Are you okay?"

I sniffle and don't take it. She's probably just like the others. Uncle Pugsley was right; no-one at this school can be trusted.

"I'm Morgan." And on top of that, she doesn't give up. I sigh, barely noticing that Mandy and Allison are walking away in a huff.

"I'm-" I start, but someone shouts from the parking lot beyond the fence.

"Nell!"

Father, jumping out of his car and slamming the door shut. I didn't know I needed him until now. The latch on the gate shines in the late afternoon sunlight as he opens it. Can't he run faster?

And then he's here. I hug him as hard as I can, forgetting about Morgan. He holds me and strokes my hair.

"Ssh. It's okay, Pina. It's going to be okay."

Father looks at Morgan. "What happened?"

She tugs at her sleeves. "Allison'n'Mandy pushed her down."

"Why?" he asks. His voice isn't loud, but it's still angrier than I've ever heard before.

"Because…um…" Finally, she spits it out in a rush. "She tried to kiss Allison yesterday."

Father sighs hard. I panic. Are they right? Am I bad?

"I don't want to kiss boys," I say into Father's coat. "I'm bad." Any minute now, he's going to push me down just like Allison did and leave me here. Who wants a bad daughter?

"No."

It still sounds angry, but when I look at him, his face is soft.

"You're not bad," he says, and pulls me closer. "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're bad. Never. Not for that."

Over his shoulder, I see Morgan quietly walk away, staring at the ground. _She's kind of pretty, too_, part of me notices. But mostly I'm too focused on what Father just said. I'm not bad. I don't need to be beaten or taken away from Mother and Father. Allison was wrong.

Father picks me up and carries me to the car. As he buckles me into my seat, I ask, "Can I love girls, Father? Instead of boys?"

For a moment, he's quiet. Then, he puts his hand over mine.

"You can love whoever you want, Nell. And they'll be very lucky to have you."

I'm still not-crying a bit, but my knee doesn't hurt as bad as we pull away from the school and drive home.

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**A/N:** I'm not in the habit of writing "gayngst" (sexuality angst) stories, but this was the part of Nell's life that lent itself best to the chapter theme. So anybody who read the chapter of As We're Slowly Dying about her wedding and got confused: yes, Nell is a lesbian. And judging by this story, she knew it pretty early.


	2. Two For Mirth

**A/N: **Well, here we go again. Child #2. Enjoy.

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_Erik Gomez Charles Addams-Beineke  
"Two For Mirth"_

* * *

"Get back here, you little twerp!"

"Can't catch me!"

Nell's boots pounded against the stairs, sending a veritable symphony of creaks echoing through the decrepit house. As the 9-year-old ran, her brother laughed and held a leather-bound book over his head. The title glinted gold in a flash of sunlight from the front window: _Journal._

"Nell an' Morgan, sittin' in a tree," Erik chanted as they approached the living room. "K-I-S-S-"

"Liar!" his sister yelled. "Shut up! I don't like her!"

Just outside the mahogany doors, the 3-year-old screeched to a halt. Erik pushed back his too-long brown bangs and sneered at his sister.

"Yes, you do," he said. Nell snorted.

"Not like that. She's my best friend!"

"That's not what you said here," he challenged, raising the journal.

After making a futile grab for it, his sister retreated somewhat. "You can't even read that."

"Uncle Pugsley can."

"You didn't!" she shrieked, and attempted once more to reclaim her book. A brief scuffle ensued, which promised to turn into a longer altercation until two things happened.

1. Nell pulled a dagger from the pocket of her dress, and

2. The living room doors opened.

Instantly the siblings separated. Roughhousing was far from unusual in the Addams-Beineke household, but Lucas in particular had forbidden hand-to-hand fighting until Erik was at least six. And neither wanted to lose firearms or chemical cabinet privileges over something so trivial.

From the doorway, however, it was Wednesday who sighed, "Don't let your father catch you doing that."

"Mother, are- are you okay?" Nell asked hesitantly. The young woman's eyes, always deep-set, now looked even more so thanks to the dark circles surrounding them. Her short, dark hair was unusually disheveled. She looked tired, a state the children were not used to seeing their mother in. Even her tone, when she spoke, seemed to confirm this.

"Yes, I'm fine. Come in; your father and I need to talk to you about something."

The journal fell, forgotten, to the motheaten hall rug. The minute they crossed the living room threshold, Erik raced to the antique piano in one corner.

"Can I play, Mother? Please?" His face was a picture of childish innocence- blue eyes wide, lower lip quivering.

Wednesday sat down in a green-upholstered rosewood chair and glanced at Lucas, who stood staring into the fire. "I don't mind. Lucas?"

"Go ahead," her husband said, turning to smile at the children. With an answering grin, Erik clambered "up onto the piano bench and began plodding through what sounded like a very slow minuet.

Nell slowly took a seat on the dusty couch. "What did you want to tell us?" she asked, feigning nonchalance as she brushed imaginary dirt from her striped tights.

Crackling from the marble fireplace was the only answer for a moment. Lucas glanced at Wednesday, who seemed unusually intent on her sewing, then cleared his throat.

"Um…well, your mother-"

"It's alright, Lucas," she interrupted, and set aside the coat she was mending. "I'll handle this one."

Getting up from her chair, she went to stand beside Nell.

"You asked if I'm okay. Well, I am. But I….just…found out…"

Her voice trailed off, and she stared for a moment at Erik. The boy continued picking out a tune that sounded half-familiar, but so slow that none of them could place it. Until, that is, Lucas burst out laughing.

Between gasps for breath, he began to sing along. "Happy…birthday…to you…"

"_We_ found out- 'we' apparently including your brother," Wednesday continued, fighting the urge to chuckle, "that I'm pregnant."

* * *

**A/N: **Dun dun duuuuuuun! And to the reviewer who wondered about reactions to Nell's sexuality- there really were none. The Addamses don't care about things like that, neither does Alice, and Mal's pretty much out of the picture (the reason for which will be explained in later chapters). Also, these oneshots are more like vignettes than directly sequential. Just FYI.


End file.
